University of Sussex is huge, physically on site, and worldwide. It has grown from a few thousand to ten times that number. About a third of the students are foreign, with many over in China. Nowadays you can do lectures online, or videoed, contact tutors by email, as well as having lecturers flying out to see their overseas students in person.
Student Numbers
Numbers might go down, if the UK govenment persists in the idea that the university should be principally for the UK students, at least those in the UK, or those in the UK being from the UK. We shall have to see how things change.
I want to a day's reunion for alumni. My husband Trevor is one.
Talks
We heard two talks.
The first was from the Vice Chancellor, Professor Sasha Roseneil.
The second was from Alumnus Adam Sisman, BA History 1975).
Professon Sasha Roseneil, right. Photo by Angela Lansbury.
The second talk was from the biographer of Asa Briggs.
Both speakers answered questions. The uni does not invest in armaments, pornography nor tobacco.
At lunch time we divided into two groups in different rooms, those from the 1960s decade in one room. Those from the 1970s in another.
Slides showed the pop groups who had performed. Jimi Hedrix.
We saw the mods and rockers. To my surprise my husband revealed that he had been both. Dressing the part, on alternating weekends.
Architecture
Sir Basil Spence the architect was famous for his innovative, dramatic style. Brickwork. And arches. You see them inside, as we did in the room where we had our buffet lunch.
The famous outdoor square is still there. with the student room on one side. No way could it hold all the students nowadays.
Arched Windows from the outside. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.
But they don't have to gather there. The area has a supermarket which delivers. And enough accommodation for all the students to be housed on campus, unlike when the uni was established in the 1960s, and the students commuted in from Brighton a few miles down the road, connected by bus. (And train, which arrived centrally in Brighton, whilst the students lived in cheaper accommodation further away.)
The Meeting House
My favourite building was The Meeting House. It is a cylindrical building. The upper floor is lit all the way round by coloured glass, like giant bricks, staggered. Beautiful. Colourful.
The lift for the handicapped was not operating. The same thing happened to me in July at the Hayes Conference Centre in Derby. If your conference complex has a lift for the disabled, please check that it is operating before the start of the conference. Don't wait until somebody with a wheelchair or stick wastes time, their carer's time, your staff time. Your visitor should not get stressed, or stuck inside, or at the top or bottom of the stairs, before an important meeting, unable to get access, or unable to get out, during a meeting, or late at night!
But my husband took a picture.
My husband commented that in 50 years the tiny saplings had become a huge forest of giant elms.
The Elm Tree
Unfortunately the dreaded Dutch Elm Disease had struck. Elm trees grow to 50 to 100 feet. One tree had to be felled, cut down to over six foot. You can see it cut down and hollowed out like an avant guarde telephone booth. With a plaque alongside.
Here is what you must see:
1 The Meeting House.
2 The Elm.
3 The Dining room.
4 The exterior.
University of Sussex Useful Websites & Addresses
University of Sussex, Meeting House, Meeting House, University of Sussex, Falmer, Brighton, BN1 9QF, Falmer, Brighton BN1 9RH
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asa_Briggs
https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/trees-woods-and-wildlife/british-trees/tree-id-app/
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